Picture Perfect
by Bethofbells
Summary: Danny catches Mindy taking covert pictures of him.


She hovered over him, the bedside lamp casting a warm glow over his surprisingly tawny skin, his chest rising and falling in an even tempo, the light rattle something of an endearing quality these days. She loved waking up before him, watching him sleep. His long sooty eyelashes rested gently against his cheeks as he snored softly.

She tugged the sheet away from him, exposing the curve of his shoulder. The fabric bunched in her fingers as she clutched it to her breast, stretching one arm out in search of her phone. Poised above him, she centered his visage in the screen on her phone, tapping the screen with her index finger.

The fake sound of a shutter was like an orchestra of untuned instruments against her ear. She mentally cursed herself for not silencing it. The even rhythm of his breath faltered, and he grunted, reaching for her, snaking his underneath the sheet. HIs fingers trailed along her ribcage, eliciting a pleasurable shudder from her. His eyes fluttered open, a frown appearing on his face when he took in her strange position. "Min, what…"

Her name in his throat was scratchy, sleep still clinging to his voice. She was paralyzed, frozen like a child caught with her hand in the cookie jar, the phone still hovering over his face. He reached up, snatching the device from her grasp. "Taking pictures? Can't get enough, eh?" A smug smile played on his lips.

The amusement in his eyes quickly faded as he scrolled through her photo album. There were dozens of photos of him, taken surreptitiously, some at odd angles, one that strangely looked like it was taken through a black curtain of some sort. "Mindy, what are these?"

Her mouth fell open, unable to find the words to answer him, she just shrugged, catching her bottom lip between her teeth. He didn't relinquish her phone, still scrolling in astonishment. A strangled noise issued from his throat. "Nudes! Are you insane?"

He dragged himself upright beside her, frantically tapping the screen of the phone. "How do you work this thing? Erase these! No, wait, maybe I should just destroy the phone." He ran his free hand through his hair, palming his face before he turned an angry glare on her. "How could you do this? You didn't put them on the internet did you? That's illegal, Mindy. You can't just post naked pictures of someone on the internet willy nilly!" His panic was spiraling.

Totally taken aback, she snatched the phone back from his grasp, afraid that he would do something desperate like dash it against the hardwood floor. "Oh my god, Danny, relax! No, they're not on the internet, jeez."

She still couldn't believe his reaction. He was a mess, perspiration beaded across his forehead, eyes wide with panic. She could see the gears spinning in his mind, "Are you really mad about this?"

Her voice was soft, and he almost missed the softly spoken question, the panicky thoughts in his head drowning out everything around him. But he did hear it, and the vulnerability caught him off guard, sucking all of the irritation out of him.

He wanted to say yes, to tell her that this was a violation of his privacy, but her eyes were so big, so full of contrition, even though he knew she didn't believe that snapping pictures of him unawares was a big deal. "Mad?" His head bumped against the headboard, and he closed his eyes for a moment, remembering all the times he'd gazed upon her sleeping, wishing he could freeze the moment, keep it forever. He understood the compulsion, and was even awed that she felt that way about him. "Maybe mad is the wrong word."

She snuggled up to him, propping her chin on his naked shoulder. His heart thumped against the palm pressed against his sternum. "Well, what is the right word?"

He swallowed, looking down at her, it was hard to concentrate on the argument at hand. "Well, surprised at least. Can you give me that?" She frowned, giving him a little nod, He continued, "It's just… pictures like that… they have a tendency to pop up when you least want them to." He felt uncomfortable, so clearly thinking about the last time someone took nude pictures of him.

Her mouth dropped open, and she pulled back from him. "Oh, God, Danny. I didn't even think about what Christina did."

He had trouble facing her, embarrassed that his ex-wife's machinations had such a lasting effect. He shook himself, clearing his head. "Whatever, it's fine. Forget about it." Reaching behind her, he trailed his fingertips along her spine, raising involuntary goosebumps. He hated it when Christina came up between them, like some conniving blonde jack-in-the-box, springing out when he least expected it.

His lips found hers, their softness giving underneath his greedy kisses as his hands drifted across her body. The sheet fell away, and suddenly they were skin to skin, Mindy struggling to remember what they'd been talking about only moments before.

She pulled away, gasping for air, her hands pushing at his chest. "No..wait… Danny. As much as I want to continue this new 'conversation' we have to finish the first one, ok?" Her palm brushed up against his jaw, and she pulled his gaze back to her. "I'm not Christina."

"I know." He felt like he couldn't say it emphatically enough, imbue it with as much emphasis as he truly felt, so he said it again. "Believe me, I know. So… let's just forget about my reaction, ok."

"No."

"What? Why not?"

"You don't even want to know why I have so many pictures of you?"

"How many is 'so many'?"

"Um, I mean, I'm bad at estimating, but at least over a hundred. Which, I feel I must mention, at least half of them feature your naked posterior. I mean, your face isn't even in those, so-"

"Mindy!"

"Relax, I'm only kidding… sort of." She dropped an affectionate kiss on his shoulder before continuing. She felt shy about her next statement. "Sometimes I just need to remind myself that this is happening. It's just hard for me to believe."

He softened, his eyes reflecting the love he felt, his heart swelling impossibly again. "It is happening, Mindy. I love you."

She turned her face back into his skin, uncharacteristically bashful. "I love you, too." The words were mumbled against his skin, half sigh. She absentmindedly ran her fingers through his hair as she spoke to him. "But, I mean, I'm almost offended that there are zero covert snapshots of me on your phone."

His fingers paused where they were drawing circles on her thigh. "Um, well… there may be…. uh…" He coughed nervously. "Zero is probably the wrong number…"

Her brows shot up, eyes sparkling as she smiled. "No way!" Before he could respond she was out of the bed, bouncing over to snatch his phone off the dresser where he'd left it. "God, Danny, this phone is ancient." She finally figured out how to get to his photos and immediately started searching through them. She frowned after a few minutes of fruitless probing. "Danny, I've gone back like two months and there's still nothing but random pictures of sandwiches and the odd church here and there."

He got out of the bed, coming to stand beside her. "There's nothing 'odd' about those churches." His body heat enveloped her as he reached around her to flip through the photos on his phone. "You have to go further back." He scrolled back into his older pictures, picking the month he knew the photo was taken in.

She frowned, casting a sidelong glance in his direction. "We weren't even together then." She watched his graceful fingers flick across the screen, her mouth dropping open when he selected the picture he'd been looking for. "Oh my god! Danny, you stalker!"

The picture glowing in her hand made her throat constrict, tears prick at the back of her eyes. She was looking at herself, asleep, her black frame glasses askew on her face, the telltale blue color of her scrubs peeking at the bottom of the closeup shot. But the thing that dated this picture so precisely was her hair. It was short, a close cropped cut that made her look like a drooling little boy. He took it the night she'd decided to go to Haiti.

That night they'd silently watched tv, the quiet becoming too awkward after a few stilted attempts at conversation. The atmosphere never quite returning to normal after the moment he'd so gently cleaned the schmutz off her glasses, tenderly placing them back where they belonged. A part of her had always wondered if he had wanted to kiss her. "But, you left before I fell asleep."

He moved up closer behind her, pressing his length along her, his breath hot against the back of her neck, each point of contact between them a scalding heat. "I came back, and you were lying there, fast asleep. I knew you'd be leaving soon, and I…" He trailed off, resting his chin against his shoulder as he searched for the words he needed. Hugging her close, his arms wrapping around her waist, he continued, "I didn't have any pictures of you. No private ones anyway. It's silly, I know, but…" He trailed off again, finding this harder than he'd expected, his voice catching in his throat. "I don't look at it anymore."

She turned in his arms. "What? Why not?"

"Well, at first, when you came back, I felt like a total weirdo for even having it, and now, well, it just reminds me of how close I came to losing you altogether." His hands traveled up and down her back, eventually settling on the swell of her ass, pulling her into him possessively. "I don't like to think about that."

She clung to him, wrapping her arms around his neck, still clutching at his phone with one hand. Trailing soft little kisses up the column of his neck, she nuzzled at his chin, eventually plucking at his bottom lip, catching the pillowy flesh between her teeth before she slipped her tongue into his mouth. She kissed him thoroughly, drawing out affectionate act as much as possible.

The hands resting gently on her ass tensed, his fingers digging into the skin as his hips involuntarily bucked at her. His chest bumped against hers as his deep breaths became shorter and more erratic.

Pulling away, she flattened one palm against his chest and tried to catch her breath. With wide eyes she looked up at him, pleasure zipping through her as she noted his own darkened with desire. "I have an idea." A broad smile spread across her face as she extricated herself from his embrace and dashed into the bathroom, hurriedly reapplying her eyeliner.

She emerged wrapped in a thigh-length silk kimono, still holding his phone. She presented it to him ceremoniously, her palm up in offering. Silently she made her way back to the bed, fanning her hair out across the pillowcase, arranging her limbs in what she deemed to be a flattering pose.

She closed her eyes, feigning a huge yawn. "Oh, Danny, I'm so sleepy. I can hardly keep my eyes open."

Danny padded over to her, peering down at her, forgetting that he was supposed to be taking a picture. The lamplight played across her skin, and he was lost in the golden glow reflecting across her smooth skin. His fingers itched to touch her, to skim along the hollow of her neck, to dip beneath the silk into the valley between her breasts.

He snapped back to himself, positioning the phone over her, lingering at the capture button. His finger made contact with the touchscreen at the exact moment one of her eyes impatiently flew open, resulting in a comical snapshot.

A laugh bubbled up in his chest as she sprang up, snatching the wrist of the hand that held the phone. "Ew, no. I don't like that. I look like a weirdo. Take it again."

He pulled his arm free, backing away from her. "No. I like this one. It's exactly like you. Beautiful and impatient."

Sticking the phone deep into the drawer of his nightstand, he turned back to her, slipping his hands beneath the kimono, heat settling in his stomach as the silken material pooled at his feet. She sighed, pulling him into the bed with her, weird snapshot temporarily forgotten. She reached between them, wrapping her fingers around his length. "I'll show you impatient."

He growled in response, unable to articulate his thoughts as he flipped her onto her back, pausing only briefly to gaze down at her before his hands dove into her hair, pulling her face to his. "Be my guest."

* * *

A week later, as they were getting ready to go out, Mindy found his phone lying on the kitchen counter, practically screaming out her name. She remembered the unflattering picture, thinking this was the perfect opportunity to delete it for good.

She picked it up, darting her eyes back and forth to make sure she was still alone. He had a passcode on it, not that it was much of a barrier, two seconds after typing in his birthday the phone was unlocked. She scrolled through the pictures, rolling her eyes when she came to the snapshots of his computer screen. She really had to teach him how to use screen-capture.

She was confused by the first picture she found, it was very similar to the first one she'd let him take, only she wasn't wearing makeup, and her hair was a mess. Flipping forward, she found another one, this time it was from behind, the silken kimono displayed prominently from behind as she stood at his kitchen counter, trying to scramble eggs. She kept scrolling. There were dozens of photos, all taken when she was otherwise occupied, some at work, some at home. She even found one which could have been classified as a selfie. Danny had his lips pressed against the back of her neck, both of their faces filling the frame.

Tears filled her eyes,and she found it hard to breathe as she kept scrolling. Suddenly she froze, her mouth falling open, eyebrows shooting up in shock. The air caught in her chest, and her mind began racing.

"Hey."

She dropped the phone like it was a hot coal, wincing as it skittered across the countertop. Danny was behind her, slipping his arms around her waist, nuzzling in the hair at the back of her neck like he always did. She still felt panicky. "Do you like it?"

"What?" She swallowed, doing her best not to look guilty. She flattened her trembling hands against the countertop.

"The ring?"

She turned in his arms, the tears pooled in her eyes falling as she nodded. The image of the princess cut diamond ring filling her mind. "Is this you asking?"

He shook his head, laughing. "No. I knew you couldn't resist trying to delete the photo from the other night, and I know how concerned with fashionable accessories you are, so… I just figured I'd get your approval this way." He kissed her, the curve of his smile widening against her lips. "Trust me, you won't see it coming."

She laughed, the tinkling sound vibrating against his chest was all the encouragement he needed to tighten his arms and pull her in for a kiss. Breaking the kiss apart, he looked at his watch. "We're going to be late."

"We're always late."

"Maybe we shouldn't be late tonight." He raised one eyebrow, one corner of his mouth mimicking the motion in mischief.

"Danny! That's not fair!" She shoved at him. "How long are you gonna draw this out just so you have an excuse to feed your sick need for punctuality?"

He chuckled, ushering her to the door where he plucked her coat off the rack, settling it gently across her shoulders. "This is kind of nice, being on time for once." His grin broadened. "I could really get used to it."

"Don't you dare!" She flipped her hair over her shoulder, striding ahead of him, her high heels clicking against the floor. "You cocky jerk, you don't even know if I want to get engaged." She slipped into the elevator, making a point to stare at the ceiling.

Smug smile still on his face, Danny leaned into her, whispering hotly against her ear. "We both know you're kind of a sure thing."

Her knees went weak and she turned to him, roughly pulling him to her, bunching the lapels of his jacket in her fist, kissing him angrily. She ran her hands along his torso, slipping down to his waistband. Stealthily she slipped her hands into the pockets of his slacks.

Breaking the kiss abruptly, her eyes shining with satisfaction, she looked up at him. "A-ha!" She held up the velvet box between them. "I'm not the only one who's a 'sure thing'!"

He dropped to his knee, pulling the velvet box from her hand, he pried the thing open, displaying the sparkling ring she'd seen in the photo. "So?"

"No."

"What!"

"'So?' is not a proposal, nor is shoving a ring in my face." She was still smiling at him expectantly, waiting for the words she knew he was capable of. "Just pretend it's a letter Danny."

He sighed, swallowing hard. "Uh… ok, fine." He took a moment to compose himself, closing his eyes as the words began to form sentences in his mind. "Dear, Mindy… I don't know how I survived so long without you, without the trust I have that you'd never betray me, without sneakily taken photos of you on my phone. I don't want to spend another moment of my life without you, without the certainty that you'll always be by my side." She began nodding emphatically and he slipped the ring on her finger, standing upright again. "I need to see you in a wedding dress, walking toward me, that same smile you get on your face when your favorite episode of Real Housewives is on, or when you get carded at the liquor store. And I really want to get started on our little muses, and my mother would kill me if we weren't married…. So, will you marry me?"

She nodded, hopping up and she kissed him sloppily, planting smackers across his face, and down his neck. He hugged her to him. "You know, you ruined it. I had this whole thing planned at that fancy restaurant you've been harping about all week." He shook his head. "Getting engaged in an elevator? You're never gonna let me live that down."

"Shut up, it was perfect." She backed up the elevator doors, slamming her palm against the emergency stop button. "I guess I have to show you how romantic elevators can be."

Before she could move back to him, he was pressed up against her, her legs pulled apart as he lifted her feet off the floor. She wrapped her legs around his waist, enjoying the cool surface of the elevator door against her back. He chuckled at the eager expression on her face. "I guess you will, Lahiri."


End file.
